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The current state of OBC seems to be pretty much set in place. Mono Black and U/G seem to be dominating all the trials for Cleveland and the first run of PTQ’s for Houston. First let’s look at the G/U deck that won Consecutive weeks (A trial and a PTQ) in Detroit.

) to stop the beatings in the next turn. Just like the deck above, wonder gives your creatures the evasion they need to swing for the victory in most cases. Since this deck is gaining in popularity, the sideboard should include more help in the “mirror” matchup.

Now lets look at the Mono Black build that took second at the recent trial in Detroit. This is, in essence, a control deck. The difference with this deck, as opposed to most mono black builds, is the use of Braids in the main deck. This is a great addition for a metagame with a lot of black decks. Monoblack tends to need a lot of lands to function, so Braids is a great way to combat the opponent. The Rancid Earth

disrupts the mirror matchup and the G/U matchup. G/U decks tend to have a lower than average land count due to the efficient spells, and thus try to run more spells and less lands. The speed of the removal spells is another bonus to the deck, as it can react quickly (all be it at Sorcery speed) to most threats.

A variation to the mono black strategy is found below, with a splash of blue to help with some of the typical issues with the monoblack build. The addition of the Shadowmage helps with card drawing and evasion. The Aether Burst

Speed and reaction speed are very important in the developing metagame that is OBC. G/U decks can overwhelm you quickly and the black decks are very speedy in their reaction. Some “other” decks are making a splash in the format even in the field dominated with the “Big Two”. Also, Green/Blue decks seem to be “popping” up in many different varieties, so be careful that you recognize the different flavors prior to making too many assumptions.

Tog is the deck that seems to be dominating the standard format, so it only seems reasonable that a variation would make it’s way into the OBC format. Below is a deck list that made top 8 in a trial for Cleveland in Detroit. Though the deck loses some of its speed do to the lack of Nightscape Familiar

and “floating manna” for the “toothy one” still packs a punch when it has time to set up the “combo.” The deck packs solid removal with a well rounded amount of card drawing allowing the combo to be protected and found quickly. Though this deck is not quite as fast as the G/U decks, if they can withstand the onslaught they can turn the tide relatively quickly.

. This deck is built to deal with the sorcery speed removal of mono black with haste attacks. The deck has more of an issue with the B/u decks because the token hate of Aether burst. If Tog becomes more dominant, this deck will fall to the way side because of the control aspects of the deck, but if monoblack stays towards the top of the food chain, this deck could again rear it’s head in monoblack’s path.

This deck has issues with most U/G varieties, but can thrive in a monoblack field. The combo is a bit risky, but on the right day, it can post better than average results.

So as the field for the OBC season shapes up, make sure you decks can deal with the aggressive speed or the reactive speed of the current decks being played. Hopefully this helps in your deck construction.

Thanks for reading.

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